Defining a Great Presidency in "EISENHOWER: This Piece of Ground"
John Rubinstein portrays the 34th President of the United States in Richard Hellesen's New Play.
What makes an American President great? That’s the question at the center of a new play about the life of Dwight D. Eisenhower opening this month at Theatre at St. Clements.
John Rubinstein stars in this one-man production as the president during his post-office retirement in the early 1960s. Freshly out-of-office, and out-of-power, the President finds a magazine feature wherein a group of historians have ranked the American Presidents. Coming in at #22 of thirty-four, Eisenhower laments that what he perceives as a successful run in the Oval Office doesn’t merit more recognition in comparison to his peers.
Thus begins’s Eisenhower’s exploration of how we ought to define greatness in our leaders—a timely question amidst a deeply polarized political climate and two successive presidents with historically low-approval ratings. The answer, in Eisenhower’s words, is moderation.
A form of compromise where we don’t settle for something less, his “moderation” is a search for honest debate and an attempt to find a solution that avoids the pitfalls of political extremes. Speaking from the Eisenhower’s Pennsylvania farm, the former President likens this moderate approach to a dirt road: if you steer to far to either edge, you get pulled down into the ditch.
Richard Hellesen’s script is a thought-provoking piece of analysis, both about the American 1950s, but also about our current failure to reach out to political solutions grounded in moderation and compromise. It is, however, about twenty minutes too long. And, staged with an intermission, over-estimates the audience’s willingness to stay engaged for the two-hour-plus monologue.
The production itself is excellent. The set, designed by Michael Deegan, is a simple representation of a mid-century home, and the large picture window is smartly used to project images, news clippings and other historical memorabilia that brings the President’s stories to life.
John Rubinstein’s portrayal of the president struggles in the first few pages of the story, but the actor hits his stride as he begins to explore the deeper questions and themes of the story. His performance is less a form of acting, and more a TED-talk-in-character. But, for this one-man show, that interpretation works quite well.
Eisenhower’s legacy is looked upon much more fondly by today’s historians that it was immediately after his departure. His “moderation” has, as of the most recent C-Span Presidential Rankings, earned him the #5 spot among the last forty-four presidents. A ranking that seems justified after spending a few hours with President Eisenhower at the theatre.
“EISENHOWER: This Piece of Ground” is currently running at Theatre at St. Clements through July 30, 2023.